Airlines operating to and from Bali’s Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai International Airport were forced to delay or cancel flights yesterday after the increased volcanic activity.
More than 300 flights were cancelled on the popular tourist island.
Volcanic ash poses a hazard to aviation as it can hamper visibility, damage flight controls and cause jet engine failure.
Australian airline Qantas had apologised for the inconvenience but said passenger safety was its top priority.
Has the airport re-opened?
A change in wind direction has allowed the major airport to reopen.
The volcanic ash and vapour, posing the hazard, have been pushed west away from the airport.
The Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation has issued an orange warning, indicating heightened unrest with the increased likelihood of further activity.
This signals the potential for further flight delays if conditions change.
National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said today: “Volcanic ash from Mount Agung this morning is weaker in intensity, up to 300 metres. Flares can be seen from its crater this morning.”
A danger zone within a four-kilometre radius around Mount Agung’s crater is still being observed.
The warning level for the volcano remains at level three, one below the highest advisory.
The volcanic activity had only been downgraded to a level three in February this year.
After an eruption in November 2017, more than 29,000 people had to flee their homes and the island was on level four alert.
After the 2017 eruption, flights were suspended for 24 hours, stranding 59,000 domestic and international passengers.
Indonesia, Bali’s island archipelago, is one of the world’s most active volcanic regions.
It forms part of the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ – a massive horseshoe-shaped area of seismic and volcanic activity in the Pacific Ocean.
Roughly 90 percent of all earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, and 75 percent of the world’s active volcanoes are dotted along the expansive ring.
In 1963 the volcano erupted in what has been recorded as one of the most devastating eruptions in Indonesia’s history.
Local residents reported explosions, ash clouds, lava rivers and pyroclastic flows.
An estimated 1,500 people lost their lives in the eruption of 1963.
